The France car market in August posted the 10th year-on-year decline in a row, with a double digit decline and less than 1.000 distant from forecast. This was the lowest August in the last 15 years. Focus2move.com full year 2012 forecast for France market was hold at 1.950.000 units, down 11.5% from 2011.

The best way to counteract slowing market trend, in France as in any country, is a good brand strategy and powerful products. Using this recipe, Peugeot has taken the market leadership in July and in August had increased the gap with the rivals.

Indeed, Peugeot sold 16.517 units with a share of 17.2%, up 0.9 points of share from the previous month and the first half. New Peugeot 208 contribution was decisive, with over 6.000 units sold and a share of 6.4%, up 1.6 points from the previous month.

Behind, Renault was 2nd in the month (1st year-to-date) with 15.535 units and a share of 16.2%, flat on July and down 2.7 points from the first half.

Citroen in 3rd position sold 11.929 units with a share of 12.4%, sharply down from the previous months (2.6 points) and from the first half (2.0 points). The Citroen best-selling models, the C3, had shown difficulties, but all models were under performing.

Volkswagen was as usual the importers leader, in 4th position, with 8.118 sales and a share of 8.5%, down 0.5 points from the previous month and up 0.4 points from the first half.

Dacia was 5th, confirming the continuous progress posted in this market. In August it sold 5.974 cars with a share of 6.2%, up 3.0 points from the previous month and 2.3 points from the first half. This was the record share ever for Dacia in France.

Toyota was 6th in the month (9th year-to-date) with 4.036 sales and a share of 4.2%, the best of the year, up 0.7 points from July.

Nissan was 7th, ahead of Ford and Opel, which dropped together at 3.4% of share. Hard times for the Americans stretched between Dacia and Koreans in their “value for money” segment.

In the table below, the best 25 brands ranked for year to date position:

Rank

Brand

Aug

YTD Aug

Q1

Q2

I Half

Jul

Aug

YTD Aug

1

Renault

15.535

237.962

19,2%

18,7%

18,9%

16,2%

16,2%

18,4%

2

Peugeot

16.517

211.170

16,1%

16,5%

16,3%

16,3%

17,2%

16,3%

3

Citroën

11.929

184.835

14,3%

14,5%

14,4%

15,0%

12,4%

14,3%

4

Volkswagen

8.118

106.391

8,6%

7,7%

8,1%

9,0%

8,5%

8,2%

5

Ford

3.268

65.091

5,7%

5,0%

5,3%

4,0%

3,4%

5,0%

6

Opel

3.223

54.858

3,8%

4,3%

4,1%

6,1%

3,4%

4,2%

7

Dacia

5.974

51.883

3,6%

4,3%

3,9%

3,2%

6,2%

4,0%

8

Nissan

3.650

47.635

3,8%

3,6%

3,7%

3,6%

3,8%

3,7%

9

Toyota

4.036

42.588

3,1%

3,2%

3,2%

3,5%

4,2%

3,3%

10

Audi

3.768

40.743

2,9%

3,1%

3,0%

3,6%

3,9%

3,2%

11

Mercedes

2.827

30.020

2,3%

2,3%

2,3%

2,0%

2,9%

2,3%

12

BMW

2.660

29.700

2,2%

2,3%

2,2%

2,4%

2,8%

2,3%

13

Fiat

1.592

28.755

2,4%

2,2%

2,3%

2,2%

1,7%

2,2%

14

Kia

1.914

21.640

1,6%

1,6%

1,6%

1,9%

2,0%

1,7%

15

Chevrolet

1.484

18.192

1,2%

1,6%

1,4%

1,2%

1,5%

1,4%

16

Hyundai

1.543

18.145

1,2%

1,5%

1,4%

1,4%

1,6%

1,4%

17

Seat

1.435

16.873

1,4%

1,1%

1,3%

1,4%

1,5%

1,3%

18

Skoda

1.370

14.569

1,1%

1,1%

1,1%

1,2%

1,4%

1,1%

19

Mini

1.077

14.307

1,1%

1,1%

1,1%

1,2%

1,1%

1,1%

20

Suzuki

924

10.371

0,8%

0,7%

0,8%

0,8%

1,0%

0,8%

21

Volvo

407

8.529

0,6%

0,7%

0,7%

0,7%

0,4%

0,7%

22

Alfa Romeo

458

7.416

0,6%

0,6%

0,6%

0,5%

0,5%

0,6%

23

Honda

413

5.398

0,4%

0,4%

0,4%

0,4%

0,4%

0,4%

24

Land Rover

338

4.922

0,4%

0,4%

0,4%

0,4%

0,4%

0,4%

25

Lancia

165

3.630

0,3%

0,3%

0,3%

0,2%

0,2%

0,3%

Looking at the single model performance, as anticipated the new Peugeot 208 confirmed the leadership achieved last month, posting an impressive 6.4% of share and picking the 8th position in the year to date ranking.

Renault Clio was second with 5.168 units and a share of 5.46, up 0.8 points of share from previous month, while the Citroen C4 was 3rd, with 3.452 units and a share of 3.6%, down 0.8 points from previous month.

In the table below, the best-selling 50 models, ranked for year to date position:

Rank

Model

Aug

YTD Aug

Q1

Q2

I Half

Jul

Aug

YTD Aug

1

Renault Clio

5.168

70.310

6,3%

4,8%

5,6%

4,6%

5,4%

5,4%

2

Citroen C 4 /Picasso

3.452

53.118

4,1%

4,1%

4,1%

4,4%

3,6%

4,1%

3

Renault Megane

3.052

45.388

3,5%

3,7%

3,6%

3,2%

3,2%

3,5%

4

Citroen C3

2.582

43.409

3,5%

3,4%

3,4%

3,4%

2,7%

3,4%

5

Renault Scenic

2.125

40.506

2,9%

3,6%

3,2%

3,0%

2,2%

3,1%

6

Peugeot 207

785

39.419

4,9%

2,3%

3,5%

1,0%

0,8%

3,1%

7

Peugeot 308

2.208

34.000

2,6%

2,8%

2,7%

2,3%

2,3%

2,6%

8

Peugeot 208

6.170

32.909

0,7%

3,0%

1,9%

4,8%

6,4%

2,5%

9

Volkswagen Polo

1.981

30.524

2,6%

2,1%

2,4%

2,6%

2,1%

2,4%

10

Peugeot 3008

1.971

30.231

2,3%

2,4%

2,4%

2,2%

2,1%

2,3%

11

Renault Twingo

1.768

27.808

2,6%

1,9%

2,3%

1,5%

1,8%

2,2%

12

Volkswagen Golf

1.792

26.939

2,4%

1,9%

2,1%

1,9%

1,9%

2,1%

13

Dacia Duster

2.013

24.020

1,7%

1,8%

1,8%

2,4%

2,1%

1,9%

14

Ford Fiesta

1.149

21.959

2,0%

1,6%

1,8%

1,2%

1,2%

1,7%

15

Nissan Qashqai

1.529

20.851

1,6%

1,6%

1,6%

1,8%

1,6%

1,6%

16

Dacia Sandero

1.744

19.476

1,5%

1,4%

1,4%

1,9%

1,8%

1,5%

17

Opel Corsa

1.319

19.170

1,5%

1,6%

1,5%

1,3%

1,4%

1,5%

18

Peugeot 508

1.335

18.068

1,3%

1,4%

1,4%

1,6%

1,4%

1,4%

19

Citroen C3 Picasso

1.084

17.210

1,3%

1,4%

1,4%

1,2%

1,1%

1,3%

20

Citroen DS3

1.094

16.848

1,3%

1,3%

1,3%

1,5%

1,1%

1,3%

21

Peugeot 5008

905

16.496

1,1%

1,5%

1,3%

1,4%

0,9%

1,3%

22

Toyota Yaris

1.378

15.814

1,1%

1,2%

1,2%

1,5%

1,4%

1,2%

23

Volkswagen Tiguan

1.285

14.945

1,1%

1,1%

1,1%

1,5%

1,3%

1,2%

24

Ford C-Max

794

14.677

1,2%

1,2%

1,2%

1,0%

0,8%

1,1%

25

Nissan Juke

1.193

14.614

1,2%

1,1%

1,1%

1,1%

1,2%

1,1%

26

Peugeot 206+

885

14.493

1,3%

1,0%

1,1%

1,1%

0,9%

1,1%

27

Renault Modus

888

12.870

1,1%

1,0%

1,0%

0,9%

0,9%

1,0%

28

Citroen C5

683

11.499

1,0%

0,9%

0,9%

0,8%

0,7%

0,9%

29

Volkswagen Touran

938

10.974

0,8%

0,8%

0,8%

1,1%

1,0%

0,8%

30

Fiat 500

578

10.661

0,9%

0,8%

0,8%

1,0%

0,6%

0,8%

31

Renault Laguna

587

10.554

0,8%

0,9%

0,8%

0,8%

0,6%

0,8%

32

Ford Focus

449

10.453

1,0%

0,7%

0,9%

0,6%

0,5%

0,8%

33

Citroen C1

629

10.180

0,8%

0,8%

0,8%

0,6%

0,7%

0,8%

34

Seat Ibiza

947

9.870

0,9%

0,6%

0,7%

0,8%

1,0%

0,8%

35

Citroen DS4

544

9.803

0,8%

0,8%

0,8%

0,8%

0,6%

0,8%

36

Renault Kangoo

537

9.781

0,7%

0,8%

0,8%

0,9%

0,6%

0,8%

37

Mini

689

9.685

0,6%

0,9%

0,7%

0,8%

0,7%

0,7%

38

Audi A1

866

9.574

0,7%

0,8%

0,7%

0,8%

0,9%

0,7%

39

Mercedes Class B

1.157

9.098

0,6%

0,7%

0,7%

0,7%

1,2%

0,7%

40

Opel Zafira

447

8.531

0,7%

0,7%

0,7%

0,5%

0,5%

0,7%

41

Peugeot 107

651

8.377

0,6%

0,7%

0,7%

0,6%

0,7%

0,6%

42

BMW Series 1

736

8.187

0,6%

0,6%

0,6%

0,8%

0,8%

0,6%

43

Opel Meriva

503

8.184

0,6%

0,7%

0,7%

0,4%

0,5%

0,6%

44

Fiat Panda

423

8.127

0,6%

0,7%

0,7%

0,5%

0,4%

0,6%

45

Dacia Lodgy

1.914

7.930

0,0%

0,0%

0,4%

1,5%

2,0%

0,6%

46

Citroen Berlingo

477

7.926

0,6%

0,7%

0,6%

0,7%

0,5%

0,6%

47

Volkswagen Passat

876

7.788

0,6%

0,5%

0,6%

0,6%

0,9%

0,6%

48

Opel Astra

496

7.746

0,6%

0,7%

0,6%

0,5%

0,5%

0,6%

49

Peugeot Partner

451

7.695

0,5%

0,7%

0,6%

0,6%

0,5%

0,6%

50

Citroen DS5

314

7.260

0,6%

0,6%

0,6%

0,5%

0,3%

0,6%

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